Colorado rubber

Building my '10 RIP, and having everything dialed in component wise in what I want/need, except for the most crucial part: tires.
I live and ride in Northern Colorado, mostly Boulder and Fort Collins areas. I will using Stan's Flow rims and a Reba Team fork. Riding weight is about 240lbs, style is typically pretty slow up, but obviously faster down, with no real line refinement.
I've considered several tires, but am not sure what would be best for local trail conditions.
Looked at:
-Bontrager FR3
-WTB Wolverine 2.2
-Maxxis Ardent 2.4

What has been successful for anyone else?
(I'm coming off an entry level 26er hardtail with poor tires for anything, the RIP will be a whole different animal)

Don't live there, only ridden there twice ('07 and '08) for about 3 weeks each visit, but here's what I found worked real well, but there are newer tyres out now.

Depending on where you ride about there and time of year tyre selection can vary. For me when I 1st visited in '07 I was rocking Nanos and although I got good enough traction out back to climb etc on Devils Backbone, Blue Sky, the front washed easily in the soft, sandy conditions of late summer. I was "racing" endurance that year, so didn't want anything too slow and switched to Crossmark R/Ignitor F and that combo worked really well as a fast, but decent grip combo.

Visited in '08 with nothing but fun on the menu and started out rocking Xmark R/Racing Ralph F, but the Ralph didn't cut it really for me. Got a Rampage and threw on the front and tha was much better, but the Xmark really isn't an aggressive tyre so great climbing but have to watch descending. Last week of the trip we did Monarch Crest and I swapped the Rampage to the Rear and threw a Nevegal on the Front and to me this was a very decent all round combo if you're looking for decent rolling, but with very good traction and main goal is fun.

There's loads of other tyres out since, so not sure, but if I had to go by looks I'd consider maybe doing Ardent R/Rampage F as a fairly fast, but fun setup and for strictly fun Maybe Ardent R/ Bonti 29-4 F. Best bet is to get some tyres like what you listed or the Rampages and go ride the bike, see what everyone else is riding and what their skills are like and ask them some questions and go from there - it's fun to have a few different tyres to play around with

For that bike the Rampage is good choice. Good combination of volume, weight, traction, rolling and tubeless compatibility. The 2.35 Ardent was an ok rear tire for me but on the front it broke loose sooner when I got it on its edge (the 2.4 Ardent looks a bit more aggressive so that should be on your list too.)

Rampages tubeless

I've set them up on Bontrager rims (Rhythm Elites) with the Bonty rimstrip, and also on Flows with Stans. Both seat fine.

I found that the Bonty setup was more hit or miss on constant air pressure. One wheel would get leaky on occasion. Cleaning rim seat and tire bead usually fixed it for awhile. Then, over time, issue seems to have gone away pretty much. I think I just needed to seal the tires overall, and run a bit more juice.

Stans configuration set up and held well from the get go.

These are a good general use tire for Western Colo (Grand Valley area).

If you've got a set of wheels built using Flows, then all you need is a floor pump and some sealant, don't know how it does on other rims. Been running mine tubeless now for a long time with no issues and super low pressures in the 19-24 PSI range depending on where I'm riding. FYI I'm not a heavy rider, max about 185lbs geared to ride.

Agree with Loudpawlz on the 2.25" Ardent as a front tyre, very sketchy, was the cause of me eating it on some kitty gravel over hardpack. As said, the 2.4" gets better reviews for deeper/taller treads.

i'm running flows on my rip9 also with a reba team fork and live in the aspen area...

i have been using the specialized captain controls tubeless and found them to be really good, but now it's pretty dry here, and the trails are getting kind of loose so i'm not really laying into them like i was when it was wet and firm. everything seems a little skittish to me when the trails dry out.

i'm running a 2.2 and they feel like a really good size for around here.

i'm 205# with gear and have been running them about 28lbs front and rear.